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Bleak Back Yard

Christine
Well, up until now I wasn’t completely unhappy to see so many trees come down. Most of the pines were planted way too close together and were all unhealthy because they were too crowded. We thinned those out. They took down the junky poplar tree. No big loss there.
Then they “trimmed” my apple trees. My antique Grimes Golden apple trees. They are now about 1/4 the height they were. Yes, I know they definitely needed some maintenance. But I’m not running an orchard, either. I was less concerned with the productivity of the crop than with the overall health of the trees. I believe they are nearly as old as the house.
I was going to have my friend’s grandfather come in and take a look at them. He is a forrester with much passion and knowledge of apple trees. Well, all trees. But he was very excited to hear that I had two Grimes Golden trees. Before they were just allowed to go wild for at least a decade. Now I’m embarrassed to show him what has just happened to them.
sad apple trees and yucky view of the factory’s tanks and parking lot
The real tragedy of the day was my mighty elm tree. You may recall that it took quite a hit from a storm a few years back. The top 1/3 of the tree came down. Took out a nearby pine. Thankfully it didn’t fall toward the house.
It got a good trimming after that and many people told me to just take it down. I wanted my forrester friend to tell me if it could be saved, and if we could work around it when we went to regrade. Sadly, I woke up to this sight this morning.



previously disguised view of the factory



mighty elm, reduced to its parts
Now it is too late to save it. I’ll admit that I cried. I really loved that giant shade tree. It protected the back of the house from the sun. And wind and rain. I believe it is very old and it did not have Dutch Elm Disease. What a gem. The yard looks really different now. Bleak and barren. Maybe I’ll get a picture of the whole yard later.

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Winter Recap

Christine
Oh, no. Seriously? No, no, no. This can’t be. Really? I haven’t posted since November? Bad blogger!
Let’s get caught up.
As you may know, we got the back bedroom done and now we are just down to accessorizing. And we need a headboard. And maybe nightstands. They can all wait until the perfect things come along.
King size bed!
It is a good thing we got this room ready because we had house guests for three weeks over the holidays.
Oli loves to leap on and off the new bed
Oli really loves the view!
We got digital in December, too! We now have a home wireless set up thingie. We upgraded to a blu-ray player, and I reworked our Verizon home services. By changing our outdated home phone plan, we were able add Dish TV and increase our Internet speed and it is now only about $10 more per month.
And we all got sick. So we got to make good use of the new tv service. (Remember, I haven’t had broadcast tv in over two years, so I’m like a kid in a candy store.) I fought off multiple infections, including strep throat, double ear infections, fluid in the right ear that didn’t want to go away on its own until threatened with tubes (yes tubes! at my age!), an upper respiratory infection that kicked my behind, and a bunch of stuff I’m probably forgetting. I missed a lot of work, but there were days I could hardly move for lack of energy. Mom and Lewis took good care of me. So now, almost three months, three rounds of strong antibiotics and a round of predinsone later, I’m finally feeling like myself again.

On top of all that, I’m playing wedding planner for my cousin’s June wedding, advising mom on her new counter top selections, and still helping my aunt find things for her house. Everything is finally rebuilt from the fire and they were able to move back in just a few weeks ago.

Plus, get ready for this, Oliver’s Bungalow is gearing up for a major face lift. I’ll get into the details later, but here’s the short list, slated to begin any day now:

new siding
4 new windows (side and back bedrooms)
insulation
roof painted
mini split system installed
re-grading the yard
long term yardscaping plan
fence for Oliver

It is just one of those projects where one thing overlaps another and suddenly you find yourself in the middle of another massive project and a major investment.

Some of the old trees have already been taken down. I’ll have to get a couple of good pictures together, but in the meantime, Oliver has been having a blast tearing up root balls and sticks.
tear ’em up!
Oli, is that dirt on your nose?

and your tongue too? silly, happy doggie
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Clear Out Craze

Christine

So, I woke up this morning with every intention of clearing a wide path through the dining room and living room. On Monday the piano movers are coming to take my piano- which I do not have the talent to play- to my grandmother’s house. Nanny enjoys playing and my teenage cousin is a natural on the piano, so this will give both of them the opportunity to play. After all, it has just been sitting there looking pretty in my dining room these past few years.

But I got sidetracked. See, my linen closet has been driving me crazy for the last few weeks. Not that it was very disorganized, but I didn’t have a designated space for the new king size bedding. So instead of working downstairs, I tore everything out of the linen closet, made neat stacks all over the beds, vacuumed, dusted, then began to put everything back.

And even though it looks almost the same as before, I’m pleased with the result:



Three hours well spent? Maybe. I worked on several other things at the same time. I have a large pile of clothes for my friend Sheri’s daughters. I had a big clear out of winter clothes last weekend. Now I just need to get them to her.

I’ve been getting my exercise running up and down the stairs to check on laundry every 45 minutes. I still have a small stack of boxes to go to the basement. I decided that there is really no need to store extra tiles, grout mix, robe hook and replacement toilet seat in the linen closet! Those things belong in the basement. I’ve kept the tiles up here so long because I wanted them handy for when we make the final repairs to the bathroom walls, but since that has already been about 5 years, I think I’ll take the risk by moving them farther away. Ha! Maybe some great tile layer will magically  knock on my door this week. Let’s not hold our breath.

Meanwhile, things are really coming together in the back bedroom. As I mentioned, I had a big clear out last weekend, making lots of extra drawer space, so I was able to make more room for Lewis to store stuff. I’ve been feeling kind of guilty of late. I have clothes filling two closets, with a few winter coats stored in the third. And, until last weekend, I had clothes in dressers in all three bedrooms. Really.

I’ve also been gearing up to make some major changes to the side bedroom, which I am very excited about. Soon I’ll show you my plans! Stay tuned.

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Projects on the Horizon

Christine

Wow. It has been so long since I posted that blogger has changed!

Well, I thought I’d get caught up a bit. We’ve been pretty preoccupied with family issues the past few months, but I think things are going to get back to normal soon.

I have been working hard behind the scenes, doing some major clear out and de-cluttering. I feel very good about this. When I’m done, I can reward myself by redecorating the side bedroom. Very much looking forward to that!

We are also going to start working on a few new big projects around the house. Sometime this spring there will be new siding and insulation, a few new windows, hopefully a new sofa, and finally a fence for Oliver. I can’t wait to see him romp around his yard!

Currently, I’m interested in the James Hardie siding products. I’ll most likely go with the greens as pictured above. I am waiting for a couple more color samples that caught my interest before I make my final decision. It will be a color. I’ve always been happy with the green siding, crisp white trim and black accents.

We will not be installing any stone, though, because damage to non-structural stone or brick is not covered under my earthquake insurance. Those areas will probably get a fresh coat of stucco, but I’m not sure yet. There could be other options out there that I’m not aware of.

While we have the house torn up outside, the plan is to install insulation from the outside in. At some time, several decades ago, someone had fluffy blown-in insulation installed. We found out when we were restoring the interior that fluffy stuff settles down to about knee level! Well, if we had walls open, Bill put insulation in, but there were plenty of places we didn’t get to. At the time we had no idea just how much of a mistake that would be.

I’ve always joked that I didn’t ever want to see my house in one of those infrared photos, because it would just be a big, glowing blob of red. You may have heard me refer to the house as a sieve? Many of you old house owners know just what I’m talking about. Those mysterious breezes you feel on your ankles in the winter? Yeah. Good times.

Anyway, I’ll tell you more about the windows when I have more details. In the meantime, I’m open to comments or suggestions about siding.

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Cheval Mirror

Christine

Dear Perfect Cheval Mirror-

I dreamed of you, but did not think I would ever find one exactly like you, at least not in my price range! But mark my words: on payday, you shall be mine!

And finally I will be able to see my whole outfit in the morning, right down to the shoes!

I found my perfect mirror for the new bedroom at Lowes!

p.s. Prepare yourself for golden retriever nose prints.